Chapter title is from song by Bon Jovi.

19

We Don't Run – Bon Jovi

They were packing up the next morning when her phone buzzed.

Garth spoke before she even got a word out.

"Now, Zee. I want you to be calm about this." Garth opened in his most mollifying voice.

Her attention sharpened at Garth's tone.

"Who'd you call, Garth?"

"I thought maybe we needed the big guns for this."

"Garth."

Garth paused like he was taking a deep breath before speaking. Zee tensed, mentally running through possible options. Worse than Ferdie. Who was worse than Ferdie?

"You know they're the best, Zee. Dean's got a little demon thing going on right now, what with the First Blade and all. But with vampire eating zombies, we need the big kahunas, the heavy hitters. Sam said they would be there in two days. Zee? Zee?"

She hung up on Garth before swear words could pop out, and slowly set the phone down.

Bloody Effin' Hell. The Winchesters. She wasn't expecting that. She knew Garth knew them, of course. It was Dean Winchester who had put the word out for him after Garth got bit, that anyone going after Garth just on account of his being a werewolf answered to him. She'd seen Garth after he became a were, or lycanthrope, as he preferred. He seemed enough still Garth and peaceable she'd let it pass.

The boys' reputation preceded them. She had no doubt they could manage whatever it was that was the monster here in Dolgeville. But was Garth insane? Ferdie's definition of collateral damage was downright twee compared to the kind of apocalyptic destruction that followed the Winchester boys around. It may have been true they never meant for any of it to happen, but that didn't change that it did. Regularly.

She stood abruptly. On a scale of one to going really badly, this job took the cake. For a moment she wondered if she actually needed to be there to pass the baton. Maybe she could just call them, hand it off over the phone, take Toby and hit the road. Maybe if she drove far enough, long enough, Mother would forget about him and fixate on some new kid. Maybe if she went completely to ground, she could make sure he was safe.

Toby came out of the bathroom, his hair sticking up in spikes as he ran an ineffective hand through it, looking around for his jacket. He took one look at the expression on her face and froze.

She looked at the kid staring back at her, his blue eyes keen and wary, sensing danger.

Nowhere would be far enough.

Until Toby knew for certain Mother was taken care of, dusted, toasted and gone, she would always be a shadow around the bend, something lurking in the darkness ahead. He would always be on edge, watching for things that moved a little different, slithered out from corners, and got you when you least expected it.

Zee swore quietly in her head, trying to clear her face of expression. She wasn't feeling calm enough to project calm. She was rattled, and she didn't like it.

"What?" Toby's one word was a panicked demand.

Indecision slowed her reply.

"That was a buddy of mine." She stalled. "Some hunters are coming to help."

Instead of relief, Toby looked dubious.

"You're leaving?"

You. Not we. He was quick to assume the things she hadn't said. Tom and Sue would take him in. She would stay in the area and keep an eye on him until the boys cleared the nest, things were squared, and then be on her way. It was chicken shit to sit out a fight this way, but it was the best plan.

"No. Not entirely." She hedged. "They're very good, the people who are coming. They'll take care of Mother."

His lip set stubbornly.

"They don't know."

Her smile was humorless. If the stories were true, there was very little that the Winchester boys hadn't run across in one form or another over the years. A zombie nest shouldn't be a problem for them; never mind if the rumors about Dean Winchester were true. Still, stuff slipped through the cracks. Collateral damage happened. It was up to her to make sure it didn't happen to Toby.

"She'll eat them alive. Like she did the other one."

Zee looked at him hard. "What other one?"

"The other guy. The one with a machete."

"Tall, blond, cowboy hat?"

Toby nodded, eyes shut tight against the images on the inside of his eyelids.

Zee breathed deep. It wasn't a stretch to know that was what had happened to Travis, but the memory of the agony in the vampire's screams lingered in her mind. She wouldn't wish that on anyone.

Toby began to shake. With fear or anger or terror, it was hard to tell. Zee crossed the room to him, and put hands on his shoulders to settle him down.

"These other guys have a lot more experience. They'll be fine."

An uneasy feeling swamped her again; the sense of words going against her gut. She tried to reason her way through it. The Winchesters were in a pay grade all their own; like Garth said, the big kahunas. They would be fine.

"They won't know." Toby repeated.

She sat him down next to her, one arm around his shoulders to stop the tremors. He leaned into her, pressing tight against her side, trying to draw warmth. He clamped his hands together, trying to stop the shaking.

She tried to think. Critically. Rationally. The things she knew she could tell the boys on the phone, it was so little. The fact that the zombies didn't go down easy was a problem. She had no idea if just the two of them were enough to face all sixteen or so zombies at once, if an extra pair of hands would help. No idea what it meant that Dean Winchester was a Knight of Hell. A demon. Despite what Garth had said, was it possible he would go the other way and help the zombies instead of hunting them?

Thinking was really not helping. The headache of trying to predict what the Winchesters would do was starting to make her original plan of firebombing the nest look simple and attractive. And that original plan was risk in a gift basket. But, then again, maybe. If she were careful. The upside to it was she was in control; not dependent on the whim of a demon to keep Toby safe.

Control was good. It was the only sure thing around.

"Give me your phone."

Toby examined her face carefully before he complied. She didn't know what he saw when he looked, but she must have passed muster because the burner was in her hand.

She keyed a second number into the phone and hit save.

"Anything goes south on this, you call both of them, yeah?"

Toby's nod was solemn. He couldn't quite hide the scared, but it was laced with pure grit. Lieutenant Donovan would have been proud.

"Alright." She stood with determination now that their course was set. "Let's figure out where we're going."